Eivind wrote:
> People are surprised that an ir-remote-control can be used from around a
> corner if you use a mirror.
I remember messing with my Dad (BSEE from Caltech in his day, so no
dummy) at one point over this as a puzzle. I have a very old model TiVo
-- a DVR that can control external devices by rebroadcasting its own IR
signals, for the 0.03 people who haven't heard of one -- and so there
are little IR transmitters that you hook into the TiVo, point at the
cable box IR transmitter, configure it, and away you go.
Normally, I have my cable box on top of the TiVo (the front of which
both facing straight ahead, of course), and the TiVo transmitters right
on top of the edge of the TiVo, pointing at the cable box, so everything
is hunky dory. Well, a certain two cats who shall not be named
occasionally notice this, play with it, and knock them down, after which
point, of course, the TiVo can't properly control the cable box anymore.
So here we are, the TiVo transmitters are knocked down, so trying to use
the TiVo to change the channel does nothing -- the IR signals aren't
getting from the TiVo to the cable box, obviously. But if I stand
directly in front of the TiVo/cable box, it works fine. If I stand to
the side, it doesn't work. What's going on?
It's because the TiVo has a transmitter right in front, next to the
receiver, for a reason that isn't all that clear to me (since it's
highly unlikely that people would set up their systems naturally so that
the TiVo would happen to be pointing directly at the cable box).
Anyway, I got a kick out of it since there's an obvious logical solution
("There is a transmitter here I don't see which is pointing straight
ahead, and enough bounces off of you if you're standing in front of it
to get back to the cable box") but my Dad had a scrunched up face for a
little while, trying to figure it out.
--
Erik Max Francis && max@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
&& http://www.alcyone.com/max/
San Jose, CA, USA && 37 18 N 121 57 W && AIM, Y!M erikmaxfrancis
You can't expect to win unless you know why you lose.
-- Benjamin Lipson
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